The Red Krayola

One of the longest-lived underground rock groups (if not the longest-lived), the Red Krayola lasted through the birth pangs of psychedelia past the death throes of post-punk. The one constant in its ever-shifting lineup was principal singer/songwriter/visionary Mayo Thompson, who seemed as concerned with deconstructing the language of "rock" music as with actually expressing himself within it. That made the Red Krayola's catalog challenging, often difficult listening. Its saving grace was the quirky charm of Thompson's songs and vocals, with a whimsical humor and open-mindedness rather atypical of avant rock. The Red Krayola, initially spelled Red Crayola, was formed in Houston as a trio in 1966. The International Artists label, which was building a roster of Texas psychedelic bands, signed the group after watching one of their performances in a shopping mall, of all places. The company was convinced that if the musicians could entertain a crowd without anything in the way of conventional command of their instruments, they must be onto something. Early demos (now on the compilation Epitaph for a Legend) indicated a spacy folk-rock bent. But although some of the material was reprised on their debut, The Parable of Arable Land, by this time the group was taking a more confrontational, experimental approach in the studio. With "war sucks!" chants and layers of "free-form freak-out" noise threatening to smother the songs underneath, it's been hailed as a precursor to the assault of industrial rock and made their International Artists labelmates the 13th Floor Elevators sound almost normal. Although the Krayola, like the Elevators, was able to attract a small cult following, it was a very small hardcore of devotees, centered around hip metropolises like San Francisco and New...